Brace bit extension



A. L. STOWELL BRACE BIT EXTENSION Filed March 22, 1928 Aug.l 11, 1931.

gwuemtoz Patented Aug. 11, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEv f" AUSTIN L. STOWELL, Fy NEW BRITAIN,y CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR- TO THE STANLEY WORKS, OF BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A COVRPGRATION OF CONNECTICUT BRACE BIT EXTENSION Application ledMarch`22, 19728. Sera1 No. 263,662.

This invention relates to a holder or eX- tension adapted to be used in connection with bit braces, and by means of which the bit is 'extended to enable the user to bore through walls, partitions, floors, etc., where the ordinary bit, without the useA of an eX- tension, will not reach.

It has been and is the practice, in devices of this sort, to provide a shank with a socket at one end adapted to receive a bit, a sleeve or shell for securing the bit in place, and a nut forfmoving the sleeve or shell into and out of clamping position, the nut being eX- tended beyond the sleeve so that it may be if;l gripped for turning movement.

This arrangement is open to various objections, among which may be mentioned that not infrequently, during the operation of boring a hole, the bit becomes loosened '52d and detached from the extension due to the fact that the extending portion of the nut isl engaged with the work, for instance, against the wall of the hole through which the extension projects, causing the nut to M withdraw the sleeve from clamping position.

The aim of the present invention isto provide an improved, advantageous and novel construction of a bit brace extension, and wherein the possibility of accidentally $6 loosening the clamping sleeve or shell dury'-ng the operation of boring ahole is avoided.

A further aim of the invention isto provide an extension or holder of this sort which is simple in arrangement and effective "325" in` operation.

' Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the '40' features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the '45 'appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown, for illustrative purposes, one of the many embodiments which the present invention may take:

Figure 1 is a side View of my improved extension with a portion ofthe shell in longitudinal section, the shell being illustrated in clamping position; l

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View, the shell being illustrated as having been moved out of clamping position;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line Sv of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5%5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings indetail, 10 designates a shank having at one end a head 11 provided with a socket 12 which is adapted to receive the squared and tapered end of the usual bit, the latter being shown, in part, in Fig. 1 and being designated by the letter B. The other end of the shank has a tapered and squared portion 13 which is adapted to be received by the jaws or chucks of the usual bit braces. The numeral 15 designates a shell mounted for longitudinal sliding movement about the head 11 and having an. opening 16 through which the bit shank can be inserted into the socket 12. This opening 16 extends into the forward end wally and along one side of the shell, as

is usual in devices of this sort. For the purpose of preventing rotation of the shell with respect to the head 11, the latter has' a longitudinally extending groove 17, and the shell has a key 18 adapted to slidably fit in the groove.

This key 18 is preferably formed by slitting the wall of the sleeve to form a lug and then bending the lug inwardly so as toengage it in the groove 17. The groove 17 stops short of the forward end of the head 11 so as to prevent withdrawal of the sleeve from the head. The lug-or key 18 is so bent, and the forward end of the groove 17y is so formed, that, should it be desired to renew the shell, the used one can be forced forwardly off of the head. The rear end of the shell is provided with an internal thread 19.

VMounted upon the shank 1() for turning movement andfagainst longitudinal movement relative thereto is a nut 20 having an external thread 21 complementary to the thread 19 so that the nut can be screwed into the shell. For the purpose of securing the nut for turning movement on the shank and holding the same against longitudinal movement relative thereto, the shank is provided with a circumferential rib 23 just rearwardly of the head 10, and the forward end of the nut is provided with an internal channel or groove which receives the rib. The groove in the forward end of the nut is preferably formed by providing the nut with a cylindrical skirt 24: of larger internal dia-meter than the bore through the nut, then slipping the nut into place, and then turning over the forward end of the skirt. It will be observed that the rib is located between the shoulder at the bottom of the counterbore and the hanged-over end of the skirt, and that no separate elements are employed for securing the nut against longitudinal movement on the shank. The means for embracing the rib is on the nut itself. The nut is of such length that, when the shell has been moved thereby to the clamping position shown in Fig. 1, the nut is entirely within the shell so that, when the device is in use, the nut can not come into engagement with the work and be accidentally turned.

For the purpose of turning the nut, there is provided on the shank 10 for sliding and turning movements a wrench which is in the form of a cylindrical or tubular member 30, the forward end 31 of which is of such diameter as to extend into the rear end of the shell, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The body portion of the wrench is knurled, as illustrated, in order that a good grip may be obtained thereon when it is desired to turn the wrench and the nut engaged therewith. The forward end. of the wrench has two or more lugs 32 which are adapted to detachably engage in correspondingly placed notches 33 in the rear end of the nut. The wrench is frictionally held in any position of adjustment on the shank by means of a spring 34 located in a groove 35 in the bore of the nut. This spring is preferably of polygonal shape, as shown in Fig. 5, and is adapted to press against the shank 10.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that to clamp the` bit inV place in the socket 12, the wrench is engaged with the nut, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and then the wrench is turned until the sleeve has been drawn down over the nut, as shown in that figure. Then the wrench is slid back on the shank to the full line position shown in Fig. 1 so as to disengage the wrench from the nut. Now, when the device is in use, the nut, since it is entirely housed within the shell 15, and the wrench is detached from the nut, cannot be accidentally turned causing the shank to become loosened and lost within the floor or partition through which the hole is being made. To detach the bit from the shank, the wrench is again engaged with the nut by sliding the wrench forwardly to the dotted line position of Fig. 1, and then the wrench is turned, thereby turning the nut in the proper direction with the result that the sleeve will be advanced or moved forwardly, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be observed that the wrench is frictionally held against accidental longitudinal movement on the shank in all positions so thatwhen the wrench is in inoperative or retracted position, it cannot rattle or accidentally move up into engagement with the nut, and when the wrench is in engagement with the nut, it will be held in this position until the operator wishes to disengage the parts by positively witl'idrawing the wrench out of operative position. It will further be observed that an extension construct-ed in accordance with the present invention is very simple and strong and may be economically manufactured.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of thisinvention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specilic features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bit brace extension including a shank having a socketed end, a non-rotatable shell surrounding said socketed end and having an internally threaded portion, a nut rotatably mounted on and fixed against longitudinal movement relative to said shank and adapted to be received by and to be entirely housed within said threaded portion of said shell, and a wrench element for turning said nut and adapted to be moved longitudinally on said shank.

2. A bit brace extension including'a shank having al socketed end, a shell or sleeve surrounding said socketed end and movable longitudinally thereof, said shell having its inner end internally threaded, a nut on said shank having a thread complementary to the thread of said sleeve and adapted to be concealed by said sleeve, said nut being rotatable on but fixed against sliding movement relative to said shank, and a wrench adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from said nut, said wrench being rotatably and slidably mounted on said shank.

3. A bit brace extension including a shank having a socketed head at one end, a nut rotatably mounted on said shank rearwardly of said head but fixed against longitudinal movement, a shell slidably mounted on said head and having is rear end internally threaded Vand adapted to receive and entirely house said nut, a tubular wrench rotatably and slidably mounted on said shank and having its forward end adapted to extend into the rear end of said sleeve, and interengaging means between said wrench and nut, said wrench being adapted to be moved on said shank out of and into engagement with said nut.

4. A bit brace extension including a shank having a socketed end, a shell surrounding said socketed end and having an internally threaded portion, a nut rotatably mounted on and fixed against longitudinal movement relative to said shank and adapted to be received and entirely housed by said threaded portion of said shell, a wrench element for turning said nut andadapted to be moved longitudinally on said shank, and means for frictionally engaging said wrench with said shank.

. 5. A bit brace extension including a shank having a socketed end, a shell or sleeve surrounding said socketed end and movable longitudinally thereof, said shell having its inner end internally threaded, a nut on said groove terminating short ofthe forward end of the head, a shell about said head and having a lug engaging in said groove, said lug being formed by slitting the wall of said shell and bending the portion bounded by the slits into said groove, and a nut in threaded engagement with said shell.

8. A bit brace extension including a shank having a socketed head at one end and an integral circumferential rib rearwardly of said head, a nut on said shank having a counterbore at one end with a thin skirt thereabout and receiving said rib, the end of `said skirt being flanged over said rib, said rib being positioned between the shoulder at the bottom of said counterbore and the flanged-over end of the skirt, whereby the nut is held against longitudinal movement on the shank, and a shell about said head and adapted to receive said nut.

AUSTIN L. STOWELL.

shank having a thread complementary to the thread of said sleeve and adapted to be concealed by said sleeve, said nut being rotatable on but iixed against sliding movement relative to said shank, a wrench adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from said nut, said wrench being rotatably and slidably mounted on said shank, and a spring between said wrench and shank for frictionally holding said wrench in adjusted position on said shank.

6. A bit brace extension including a shankr having a socketed head at one end, a nut rotatably mounted on said shank rearward- -ly of said head but fixed against longitudinal movement, a shell slidably mounted on said head and having its rear end internally threaded and adapted to receive said nut, a tubular wrench rotatably and slidably mounted on-said shank and having its forward end adapted to extend into the rear end of said sleeve, interengaging means between said wrench and nut, said wrench being adapted to be moved on said shankout of and into engagement with said nut, said wrench having an internal groove, and a spring in said groove adapted to frictionally engage said shank. v

7. A bit brace extension including a shank having a socketed head at one end, said head having a longitudinally extending 

